A Delhi court has awarded life term to a man for murdering a five-year-old boy whom he had abducted for ransom. Additional Sessions Judge Virender Kumar Bansal awarded the sentence to 22-year-old Bihar resident Vikas who had kidnapped his neighbour’s son for ransom of a mere Rs 5,000 and then killed the child without even waiting for the money. “He was smothered by the accused according to the evidence. It was he who called for ransom and also got recovered the dead body and he also got recovered the toy of the deceased,” the court said, adding that the recovery of body at the instance of accused clearly shows his guilt.

“Keeping in view the submissions and the facts of the case that he kidnapped the boy for ransom… he is sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment for the offence under section 302 (Punishment for murder) of IPC with a fine of Rs 10,000. He is further sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence under section 364 A (Kidnapping for ransom) of IPC with a fine of Rs 10,000,” the court said.

According to the complaint filed by Rajbir, his son went missing on June 14, 2012 and a complaint was filed against unknown persons initially. The complaint claimed that next day the family got a call asking for a ransom of Rs 5,000 and and the caller threatened to kill the child if the money was not paid. The police identified the phone number used to make the ransom call and nabbed Vikas.

The police also recovered a toy, which the child used to carry everywhere, from his house. The prosecution claimed Vikas himself led the police to a drain near his house from where the child’s decomposed body was recovered. Vikas had claimed that he was having a relationship with the elder sister of the child which was opposed by her father, and hence, he has been falsely implicated in the case. However, the court refused to show any leniency to the convict.